Vitamin E extends lifespan but only if taken long term

[haidut]

This study does a decent job of discussing the benefits of vitamin E, the boom of research in the 1990s and the disappointing results. But despite all of the bad mainstream press, Ray is once again right on the money. Vitamin E does have a lifespan extending effect but it just has to be taken longer and in not too high dosage. In the short term, vitamin E seems to have a detoxifying effect on the liver by making it work harder, which apparently prevents it from exerting its life extending effects.

http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... n_lifespan

"...We previously reported that lifelong dietary vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) supplementation significantly increased median lifespan in C57BL/6 mice by 15%. This lifespan extension appeared to be independent of any antioxidant effect. Employing a transcriptional approach, we suggest that this increase in lifespan may reflect an anti-cancer effect via induction of the P21 signalling pathway, since cancer is the major cause of death in small rodents. We suggest that the role of this pathway in life span extension following supplementation of vitamin E now requires further investigation."

The study is free. Just click on the link to the right that shows a scaled down page of the article. Human dosage equivalent was 6.5mg/kg and they used the RRR-alpha-tocopherol version, without the other tocopherol isomers.

 

[j.]

I wonder if the xenobiotic effect is the same with oral and topical applications.

 

[haidut]

I wonder if the xenobiotic effect is the same with oral and topical applications.

Well, the study said that the xenobiotic effect was focused in the liver, so with topical application the first pass through the liver should be avoided. I was also thinking of something similar. If Ray said that the main purpose of vitamin E is to "saturate" unsaturated fats, then do we know that this happens with oral route? I mean if most of the vitamin E taken orally is stored in the liver then it probably only has effects on the fats eaten around the time the vitamin was taken. But what about fat stores? Instead of waiting 4 tears to burn those fats, can one apply low doses of vitamin E to areas of high fat accumulation and turn them into saturated fats? If that's the case, then stress would be lower on the body and one can even engage in activities like running, playing soccer, etc which are endurance sports and would poison the mitochondria if the stored fats are PUFA and they start getting into the bloodstream.
If anyone knows Peat's stance on this I'd appreciate some feedback.

 

[j.]

If Ray said that the main purpose of vitamin E is to "saturate" unsaturated fats, then do we know that this happens with oral route? I mean if most of the vitamin E taken orally is stored in the liver then it probably only has effects on the fats eaten around the time the vitamin was taken.

I think it goes to the blood, and some of that to the adipose tissue, which would be released later, maybe even in the distant future.

 

[j.]

Instead of waiting 4 tears to burn those fats, can one apply low doses of vitamin E to areas of high fat accumulation and turn them into saturated fats?

I also wonder if applying coconut oil topically would increase your percentage of saturated fats significantly.

And I guess also if coconut oil helps the skin absorb vitamin E, like olive oil does.

 

[haidut]

Instead of waiting 4 tears to burn those fats, can one apply low doses of vitamin E to areas of high fat accumulation and turn them into saturated fats?

I also wonder if applying coconut oil topically would increase your percentage of saturated fats significantly.

And I guess also if coconut oil is helps the skin absorb vitamin E, like olive oil does.

I wasn't aware that coconut oil has a saturating effect. Do you have some studies at hand? If that works, I think vitamin E in coconut oil would be a great topical mix b/c at room temperature it will solidify and it will be a paste rather than a liquid. With olive oil, if left undisturbed for some time the mixture separates into the oil and vitamin.

 

[j.]

I was just thinking that coconut oil is a saturated fat, so if your skin absorbs it, it would probably increase your percentage of saturated fats, right?

 

[haidut]

I was just thinking that coconut oil is a saturated fat, so if your skin absorbs it, it would probably increase your percentage of saturated fats, right?

I think so, but wouldn't the same effect be achieved with eating it? I am hoping more for a something that would turn existing PUFA stores into SFA. I remember seeing a study on that maybe 10 years ago, and they used 5% tocopherol solution topically on diabetic mice and it got the mice lean. The study noted that the mice were diabetic and in ketosis, as seen by the blood test, but somehow got lean and reversed their type 2 diabetes. One explanation that I can think of is that it saturated their fat stores so when the mice burned fat they were burning MCT/SFA which are not toxic to the mitochondria and in fact boost metabolism.

 

[j.]

I think so, but wouldn't the same effect be achieved with eating it?

For those who can eat it. Some get digestive problems or don't like eating fat. I'm not planning to do that, it's just theoretical speculation.